Don't know why you would put players in the middle of a political, religious and personal decision. Many of the MLB clubs have Pride Night. It's fine but don't force players to make a decision where they would receive backlash no matter which side they lean to.
June is Pride Month, and the Tampa Bay Rays are showing their support for the LGBTQ+ community by having Pride Night at Tropicana Field, which features players wearing special hats with rainbow logos and a sleeve decal on the field. But several Rays players decided against wearing any Pride-supportive clothing on Saturday night, which was Pride Night at Tropicana Field.
According to Mark Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times, the Rays decided to make their Pride Night uniforms optional, allowing players to make their own decision about whether or not they wanted to wear the rainbow hat and put the rainbow decal on their sleeves. The majority of the team appeared to participate, but a group of players opted to wear their normal uniforms and hats instead.
It's not known exactly how many players decided not to wear the uniforms, but Topkin reported that the group included pitchers Jason Adam, Jalen Beeks, Brooks Raley, Jeffrey Springs and Ryan Thompson.
Only one player discussed the decision to opt out of the uniforms: Jason Adam, who was chosen by team officials to speak on behalf of the group. Adam's explanation focused on religion, explicitly saying that the group didn't want to "encourage" the "lifestyle" of LGBTQ+ people due to their personal belief in Jesus.
sports.yahoo.com
June is Pride Month, and the Tampa Bay Rays are showing their support for the LGBTQ+ community by having Pride Night at Tropicana Field, which features players wearing special hats with rainbow logos and a sleeve decal on the field. But several Rays players decided against wearing any Pride-supportive clothing on Saturday night, which was Pride Night at Tropicana Field.
According to Mark Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times, the Rays decided to make their Pride Night uniforms optional, allowing players to make their own decision about whether or not they wanted to wear the rainbow hat and put the rainbow decal on their sleeves. The majority of the team appeared to participate, but a group of players opted to wear their normal uniforms and hats instead.
It's not known exactly how many players decided not to wear the uniforms, but Topkin reported that the group included pitchers Jason Adam, Jalen Beeks, Brooks Raley, Jeffrey Springs and Ryan Thompson.
Only one player discussed the decision to opt out of the uniforms: Jason Adam, who was chosen by team officials to speak on behalf of the group. Adam's explanation focused on religion, explicitly saying that the group didn't want to "encourage" the "lifestyle" of LGBTQ+ people due to their personal belief in Jesus.
Several Rays players opt out of wearing rainbow hats, sleeve decals for Pride Night
The Rays decided to make their Pride Night uniforms optional, and several players elected not to wear the rainbow hat and sleeve decal.
sports.yahoo.com
